Hot Food Walking

If you’re sick of going to the same restaurants all the time, maybe it’s time to mix things up and try out a food truck – if you can catch it.

Diner Food, Twisted

“My dad suggested a food truck and I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Three generations work on our family-owned truck,” said Scotty Johnson.

Scotty’s Go-Go Grill serves classic diner food with a twist, making it fun and different. Johnson said one of his biggest selling items is his Bacon Dog, a quarter pound Nathan’s hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with sweet pepper relish.

“Another huge seller is my Barnyard Burger which is a third pound handcrafted burger, topped with fried chicken, bacon and cheese,” he said.

For Johnson, the diner theme allows him a lot of flexibility. His family is Danish and they love to make all sorts of Danish pancakes, but Johnson said he didn’t want to limit himself to doing just breakfast or just lunch; he wanted to do it all because he likes to try new things.

His latest creation is a brisket, bacon and egg Panini.

When he’s not doing corporate lunches or events, Johnson is parked at 11th and Nicholas Streets.

“I love the instant feedback from people. It’s great when they come back or take pictures of their food to post to their Facebook page. Every day is a different adventure,” said Johnson.

Theme-less Freedom

Deanna Jones and Amy Collins co-own Mosaic Pickle. Jones and Collins decided they love the freedom that comes from not having any theme at all.

“We do any and every kind of food. We cater our food to our audience and are diverse as far as our menu goes. We can make hot dogs or meals with lemongrass and saffron,” Jones said.

Their menu varies from day to day but the duo said there are some definite customer favorites.

“We make a Malaysian curry chicken. There’s also an Asian noodle chicken salad made with toasted sesame vinaigrette. And we have chicken street fajitas, flavorful, sautéed chicken breast with peppers in a soft shelled taco,” said Jones.

The two like to take different cultures and create food fusions between them, so they have things like Philly steak quesadillas and Bahn Mi tacos.

Mosaic Pickle caters a lot for local companies, but when they are not booked, they are out at 1st Avenue in Benson.

A Rounded Menu

For Localmotive, the menu revolves around “rounders.” Convenient to eat on the go, these sourdough stuffed dumplings come in several varieties and are all served with a paired dipping sauce.

Co-Owner David Burr said Localmotive will debut its new truck in September. He said with the first truck, they were only able to offer between 3-5 varieties of rounders at a time.

“We will now able to offer all our varieties at all times, including some dessert rounders. That’s thanks to the increased refrigeration and cooking space,” explained Burr.

Localmotive also serves hot made-to-order sandwiches that Burr said are a little bit higher end or gourmet. There are also the Belgian French Fries which he refers to as “Street Frites.” The frites are hand cut, pre-blanched fries. Burr is proud of the fact that everything is made from scratch.

Localmotive can be found at Ted and Wally’s parking lot, 12th and Jackson Tuesday through Sunday nights.

Hot Rod Food

Nitro Burger owner Cherry Kress had a food truck for three years and then decided to shake things up a bit and do something no one had ever done before.

“We spent last year renovating an old school bus and turning it into a mobile 50s diner where you can actually go inside, listen to a jukebox, sit down, order and eat inside like you would in a traditional diner – except it has wheels,” said Kress.

The outside of the bus looks like a cherry red 50s hot rod. Inside, Kress said they can seat up to 16 people.

Kress said the menu is very gourmet despite the fact it focuses on foods that were popular in the 50s including burgers, shakes and fries.

“We have plantain fries and sweet potato fries. We are also known for putting different combos into cheeseburgers that are beautiful and taste very good,” explained Kress.

Some of the shake flavors include maple bacon waffle, lime cheesecake and double Dutch fudge.

Kress said their most popular burger is the Gunslinger, which has a whiskey BBQ sauce, fresh jalapenos and julienne cut tender cactus on it.

“You won’t go a lot of places and eat cactus, much less a burger joint and that’s one of our more popular items that we serve,” she said.

The bus predominantly operates in Lincoln but Kress said they do attend many events as well.

“We want to give people an experience they aren’t going to find anywhere else. There aren’t a whole lot of diners around. The fact this is mobile and that we can come to you or you can come in and sit down and have this experience is unique,” Kress said.

All of the food trucks have their daily menus and locations posted on Facebook.